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"It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place. I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation," stopping short of demanding it and full accountability.
Saying he "deplored in the strongest terms the killing of civilians," Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, like his EU counterparts, said it was "indispensable that there be an inquest to ascertain the facts, which are still not clear."
They're very clear. Israeli forces planned and executed a premeditated attack against peaceful humanitarian activists, trying to deliver essential to life aid to Gazans under siege - to break Israel's attempt to suffocate and starve them.
The Wall Street Journal online headlined "More than 10 Dead After Israel Intercepts Gaza Aid Convoy," saying (like most US media reports) that "An Israeli military spokesman said later in the day that some activists 'appeared' to be armed with guns, and fired at the Israeli soldiers, though it wasn't clear who fired first."
The activists, in fact, were unarmed civilians, delivering vitally needed humanitarian aid to 1.5 million Gazans, trapped under siege for three years this month. Without provocation, they were maliciously and willfully attacked in international waters by armed Israeli commandos with orders to open fire if the convoy failed to abort its mission.
The best Journal writer Joshua Mitnick could say was "whether the military action was warranted or not (it) threatens to further sully Israel's international reputation, after a series of recent diplomatic setbacks."
No mention of the Gaza war, daily West Bank and East Jerusalem incursions, the three-year siege, a 43-year occupation, daily killings, targeted assassinations, homes bulldozed, mass arrests, torture, and Palestinian communities throughout the Territories and in Israel threatened by daily terror.
No mention by European nations either, the EU merely calling for a full inquiry, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (a staunch Israeli supporter) saying he was "deeply shocked by the 'tragic' consequences of Israel's military operation (against) a humanitarian initiative," but little else. The same hypocrisy echoed from most European capitals, much like already from Washington.
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